REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. - The Clemson rowing team took two races against ninth-ranked Stanford while falling to second-ranked Cal on Saturday. The Tigers' 1st Varsity 4+ and 1st Novice 8+ each defeated Stanford in their respective races while the 2nd Varsity 8+ recorded a top-10 time in school history against Cal.

"I thought we raced really hard against Stanford today," said Clemson coach Robbie Tenenbaum. "I am very proud of our effort and it's great to get a victory against a top-10 program. "

The Tigers were able to take the final two races of the morning session to split four races with #9 Stanford. The Tigers' 1st Varsity 4+ finished first with a time of 7:28.2 ahead of Stanford's time of 7:32.5. Clemson's 1st Novice 8+ recorded a season-best 6:52.7 time to edge out Stanford's 7:00.6 time.

Earlier in the morning, the 1st Varsity 8+ race saw Stanford take first with a time of 6:28.1 to the Tigers' time of 6:38.4. In the 2nd Varsity 8+ race, Clemson finished second with a time of 6.36.5 behind Stanford with a time of 6:32.4.

In the afternoon session, #2 Cal swept the Tigers in four races. Both the Tigers' 1st Varsity 8+ and 2nd Varsity 8+ improved their times from the morning session and remained close in each race against the Golden Bears despite falling. The 2nd Varsity 8+ finished with a season-best time of 6:29.5 against Cal, which is the third-best time by a 2V8 crew in school history.

"I thought we stepped it up to another notch against Cal," Tenenbaum said. "I thought the 1st Varsity 8 and 2nd Varsity 8 both raced with great effort in the afternoon session. Cal just showed more depth in the later races."

The Tigers' 1st Varsity 4+ and 1st Novice 8+ turned in similar times from the morning session but were unable to overtake strong Cal squads.

Clemson will return to action tomorrow morning starting at 9:20 AM local time (12:20 PM eastern) when they take on Oregon State in four races.